| Day 1 : Welcome in l’Isle sur la Sorgue
Isle sur la Sorgue
Welcome in your B&B in the heart of the town of Isle sur la Sorgue (27 km from Avignon – 25 mins.) This veritable island of a village is carved into a circle by the waters of the Sorgue, with quaint quayside antique shops and a labyrinth of narrow roads in the centre. Dinner and night in your B&B. (market on Thursdays and Sundays, antique market on weekends).
Day 2 : Picturesque villages of the Monts de Vaucluse
Isle sur la Sorgue>Pernes les Fontaines>Venasque>Isle sur la Sorgue
- About 40km cycling - +700m/-700m -
The ride takes you first through the Pays des Sorgues, its back roads lined with cypresses and old farmhouses. You reach Pernes-les-Fontaines, with its 40 fountains, its Romanesque church, its mansions, and the famed Magasin du Drapier, 19th century cloth shop (market on Saturdays). You then explore the peaceful landscapes and the perched villages of the Monts de Vaucluse, northern Luberon. Venasque, a medieval town, is labelled as one of “the most beautiful villages of France”. Continue on toward the lost hamlets of la Roque sur Pernes and Le Beaucet, on tiny country roads through cherry orchards and Muscat vineyards. You descend back to l’Isle through pine forests and quaint valleys. Dinner on your own and night in Isle sur la Sorgue.
Day 3 : Perched villages and colourful sands
Isle sur la Sorgue>Cabrières>Gordes>Roussillon>Maubec
- About 60km cycling - +1000m/-1000m -
Today’s journey takes you to two of the most beautiful villages in the region. First is Gordes, its grey stone buildings rising in gravity-defying concentric circles, high above the Calavon valley below, crowned by its renaissance castle. In a stark contrast is Roussillon, just 6km away, set on the world’s largest ochre deposit. Its sands, in every hue of yellow, orange, and red, have been used to paint the façades of the village homes, a rainbow of colour highlighted by the ever-present Provençal sun. Stroll through the pigmented streets or the abandoned ochre quarry, a guaranteed postcard picture with every step. Dinner and night in Maubec.
Day 4 : The Luberon of A Year in Provence
Maubec>Bonnieux>Ménerbes>Oppède>Maubec
- About 40km cycling - +800m/-800m -
There’s a reason Peter Mayle chose the Luberon to settle down and write his tales, and today you will see why: each of the villages, whether Oppède, Bonnieux, or Ménerbes, set on their rocky perches overlooking the valley, with their cafés, tiny shops, windy streets, and picturesque lookouts, is an invitation to explore at length. In between each of those villages, along tiny roads, you will pass old farmhouses and centuries-old dry stone huts, and among truffle oak plantations and almond trees. Diner and night in Maubec.
Day 5 : Cavaillon: fresh fruit capital of Provence
Maubec>Cavaillon>Vignères>Isle sur la Sorgue
- About 25km cycling - +150m/-150m -
Freewheel down western part of the Luberon, through the villages of les Taillades and Robion, and up to the town of Cavaillon (market on Monday). Pedaling up back roads, through orchards and fruit garden fields, lined with cypress trees, to l’Isle sur la Sorgue. Au revoir in l’Isle sur la Sorgue!
|
